Sharing my passion for all things BIM. This site is not sponsored or endorsed by, or affiliated with, Autodesk, Inc.

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Controlling Workset Visibility in Linked Models - Structural Example

A quick post an controlling Workset visibility through linked models.

I am still not a fan of using worksets to control visibility, in general, as I previously wrote here: Avoid Using Worksets to Control Visibility. But there is always an exception to the rule, and in that case... here are a few tips.

Keep reading to learn more...
I have seen a number of projects where structural has their own model and creates walls that are duplicates of already modeled architectural walls; they just want to show the structural elements as in the image above (no insulation or brick veneer). The problem is those wall then show up in the architectural and MEP models - as shown in the next two images (worst case, where structural does not have openings added).

In this situation you have a couple options to hide those duplicate walls...

Floor plan example:

Section example:

Just hiding the linked walls category does not work, because...

The non-duplicate structural walls (in the link) also disappear, like foundation and retaining walls.

If the duplicate structural walls are placed on a separate workset you have more options.

Now, in the arch/MEP model you can turn the duplicate walls (from the link) off per view.

See the positive results here...

But, to turn them off project-wide, and not per view, create a same-named workset in your model, as shown here...

Now, the same-named workset it automatically "joined" to the linked workset. Turning that workset off in your Worksets dialog, will turn it off everywhere (automatically)!

6 comments:

Can't you also go to Manage > Manage Links > Revit > Manage Worksets? Seems simpler, although your method accomplishes the same thing. I use this to turn off duplicate levels and grids (assuming those items are on the correct workset…)

Yes, that also works. To be honest, your method did not exist when I started using this technique so it slipped my mind. However, if you have multiple structural models, like the very large project I am working on now, this one step covers them all. But both methods work, so thanks for sharing!!!

We use the same workflow as Eric B but for grids and levels we turn off the category. There are chances that elements will be assigned to wrong worksets therefore this is not very reliable.Do most of architects in America document from consultants link models? In Australia we model all structure as a reference for our documentation and for coordination with the structural engineer. If we were to use consultants models to generate drawings we would have issues with materials and graphics not matching, e.g. concrete walls, reinforced blockwork, etc.

We try to never duplicate modeled elements, with the exception of the structural walls for the reason mentioned in the post. Yes, we document from linked consultant models. In our case, we have all disciplines in-house so we have better control over graphics. But we also work with external consultants often enough and never have any major problems.

Each discipline annotates its own stuff, and the link is just model elements. But we have one project with multi same-discipline models among multiple same-discipline firms and are using linked views a lot.